A belated Happy New Year and all the best for 2018!
2017 was a pretty good year, all things considered. I spent most of the year out of full time employment, which is always a bonus. I travelled in China and Japan, as well as visiting Sweden and several places around the UK. I had experiences of volunteering at four locations through Workaway - memorable experiences for a variety of reasons! One of the big highlights of the year was getting married, and having a lovely honeymoon in Croatia. Aside from that, I also had a jolly good writing year - I did plenty of my own writing (including finishing off the first draft of a manuscript I love) and gained plenty new contracts for freelancing.
Yes, all in all 2017 was a jolly good year.
So what about 2018?
Moving back to the UK certainly hasn't been easy, but we start the year with a new house in a lovely location, and the unpacking of the boxes has been a great delight! Living close to friends and family is certainly a plus, and things are moving in the right direction on the job frontier too.
Last year, I ran a frequent feature on my blog called BaBs (Bits and Bobs) and got to interview some really awesome people and write about some awesome things. I'll be continuing with the BaBs feature this year, but not as often as I did in 2017 to give me more time for my own writing. As I'm hoping to be studying the Writing for Young People MA at Bath Spa University later this year, having time for my own writing is crucial.
Other projects I've got going on include my brand new Etsy shop. The Knitty Bee Knitting online shop sells easy-to-follow knitting patterns for beginners, at a bargain price. I've literally just opened the shop so it only has a few patterns up there at the moment, but I have big plans for expansion and hope to see my product list grow throughout the year. If all goes well, a new Knitty Bee e-book could be on the cards...
Other plans for the year:
- health! I've joined a gym!
- cooking! We have a whole bookshelf full of cookery books and I'm going to cook my socks off this year. I also have a secret idea up my sleeves for a recipe book... watch this space
- volunteering! Once my schedule has settled down, I'm going to commit to regular volunteering in a local charity shop.
- loads more submissions! Wouldn't it be awesome to enter into my MA with an agent already putting their faith in me? That would be my ultimate goal for this year
- knitting galore! I knit pretty much every day as it is, so unless I learn to knit in my sleep...
- writing! I have a study, in my house, with my own desk any everything. This is pretty much a dream come true.
So that's my plan for 2018. Have a great year!